Agenda - Council - 09/13/2022 - Laserfiche WebLink

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offer broadband at a given speed is not dispositive. Build -to Speed Standards The interim final rule provided that a recipient may use funds to make investments in broadband infrastructure that is designed to, upon completion, reliably meet or exceed symmetrical 100 Mbps download and upload speeds. In cases where it is not practicable, because of the excessive cost of the project or the geography or topography of the area to be served by the project, eligible projects may be designed to reliably meet or exceed 100 Mbps download speed and between at least 20 Mbps and 100 Mbps upload speed, so long as it is scalable to a minimum of 100 Mbps download speed and 100 Mbps upload speed. Relatedly, Treasury in the Supplementary Information to the interim final rule encouraged recipients to prioritize investments in fiber-optic infrastructure wherever feasible and to prioritize projects that achieve last -mile connections. Public Comment: Many commenters discussed the advantages of setting minimum symmetrical download and upload speeds of reliable 100 Mbps as the speed threshold for new projects. Some commenters indicated support for the interim final rule's standard as it takes into account growing demands on internet use resulting from pandemic broadband usage and suggested that such a standard will help to ensure that networks built with SLFRF funds remain valuable for years to come, even as demands continue to accelerate, particularly on upload speeds. Some also indicated that the interim final rule standard has the effect of prioritizing the use of fiber-optic infrastructure to deliver such speeds, which some noted was a "gold standard" future -proof technology, although some commenters noted that other technologies like fixed wireless have been shown to deliver such speeds in certain circumstances. 304